Kindergarten teachers are confronted with an evolving context for teaching and assessment. Recent reforms throughout the world have resulted in two fundamental shifts: (a) a growing emphasis on academic learning and increased use of assessment to support and monitor students’ academic and developmental progress and (b) the use of play as a dominant pedagogical approach. Across these shifts, little research has been conducted on the integration of assessment with play-based learning to support teachers’ practices. The present study addresses this gap by presenting empirical data from 20 purposefully selected kindergarten classrooms on how teachers (a) conceptualize the relationship and challenges between assessment and play, (b) enact assessment practices, and (c) address challenges implementing assessment during play. Results of this study demonstrate the various ways assessment and play can operate within kindergarten education to support student learning while providing an empirical foundation for future research into early primary assessment theory and practice.

中文翻译：

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幼儿园教育新方向

幼儿园教师面临着不断变化的教学和评估环境。世界各地最近的改革导致了两个根本性转变：(a) 越来越重视学术学习，更多地使用评估来支持和监测学生的学业和发展进步，以及 (b) 使用游戏作为主要的教学方法。在这些转变中，很少有研究将评估与基于游戏的学习相结合以支持教师的实践。本研究通过展示来自 20 个有目的地选择的幼儿园教室的经验数据来解决这一差距，这些数据涉及教师如何 (a) 将评估与游戏之间的关系和挑战概念化，(b) 制定评估实践，以及 (c) 解决在游戏过程中实施评估的挑战。